From 1 April 2026, qualifying farming, forestry and mining operations can claim 100% of the SARS diesel refund — up from 80%. The refund is real money, but it stands or falls on one thing: the logbook. This guide sets out what SARS requires, based on the published rules.
The diesel refund system covers VAT-registered entities conducting qualifying activities. On land: farming, forestry and mining. The scheme also covers offshore categories (commercial fishing, coasting and research vessels, offshore mining, NSRI), harbour vessels, rail freight locomotives, and electricity generation plants exceeding 200 MW per plant. Eligibility is defined under Note 6, Part 3 of Schedule No. 6 to the Customs and Excise Act, and refunds are calculated under rebate item 670.04.
Registration runs through the RAV01 form on eFiling (or a SARS branch), on top of an existing VAT registration. Refunds are claimed on the VAT 201 return, and a claim must be submitted within two years of the diesel purchase.
SARS policy (SE-DSL-02 — Manage Diesel Refund Calculation) works on two logbooks, and claims are audited against them:
Every litre of diesel purchased and received into storage, with purchase documentation. If you run your own tanks or bowsers, the paper trail starts here.
Every litre dispensed and used: dates of vehicles filled, which vehicle, and which qualifying activity was conducted per fill. Total eligible litres flow from this logbook into the VAT return.
Everything — purchase invoices, logbook data, claim submissions and supporting documentation — must be retained for five years.
The refund is claimed per litre used in a qualifying activity — not per litre bought. A logbook reconstructed at month-end from fuel-card statements and memory can’t show which litres went into which vehicle for which activity, and the gap between litres purchased and litres accounted for is exactly what an audit probes. Five years of records means the weakness compounds quietly.
FuelPortal builds both logbooks as a by-product of measuring fuel: an inflow meter and tank-level sensor record every litre received into storage; the bowser outflow meter, driver identification and the vehicle’s own tank sensor record every dispense — date, vehicle, litres, GPS position and timestamp. The storage and usage records exist because the litres were measured, not because someone remembered to write them down.
SARS — Diesel Refund System · SARS SE-DSL-02 — Manage Diesel Refund Calculation (external policy) · SARS — Increase in diesel refund claims from 80% to 100%
This guide summarises published SARS rules for general information — confirm your position with SARS or your tax practitioner. On-site diesel storage is separately regulated (Petroleum Products Act licensing and municipal fire permits) — check those requirements with the relevant authority.